TTUHSC Gets New President

The fastest growing Health Sciences Center in the state of Texas has a new leader. Texas Tech University announced Friday the name of the sole finalist for president of the TTUHSC.

Seven months of searching have come to an end, and Texas Tech got exactly who they wanted to fill the void at the Health Sciences Center. His name is Dr. M. Roy Wilson and he will be coming to Lubbock from Omaha, Nebraska. That is where Dr. Wilson currently serves as Dean of the School of Medicine and Vice President of Health Sciences for Creighton University near downtown Omaha.

Dr. Wilson is an Ophthalmologist who received his medical degree from Harvard. Texas Tech looked at 50 candidates over a seven month period, and Tech Chancellor Dr. David Smith says Dr. Wilson was Tech's first choice.

"Dr. Wilson was not on the market. We found him both through some acquaintances I have and others have. And through individuals we knew in Washington D.C. in the leadership world of health policy. And he was identified as a leader in health science center's across the country. So, we actually went after him. This wasn't someone who was on the market or shopping," says Dr. David Smith.

Chancellor Smith says several factors set Dr. Wilson apart from the rest of the crowd. First, he is world renowned in the treatment of Glaucoma. Dr. Wilson is also an international and national speaker, he is recognized internationally for reaching out into communities and providing health care access to under-served areas, and he is renowned for being a great administrator, teacher and physician.

Dr. Wilson will be the first African American to hold the presidential post at any health sciences center in Texas, but Chancellor Smith says Dr. Wilson was chosen because of his knowledge, leadership and experience.